According to the World Bank, Nigeria has implemented some economic reforms that were critical and timely to alleviate the impact of the recession on the economy and to create additional fiscal space. These reforms include reducing gasoline subsidies and adjusting electricity tariffs towards more cost-reflective levels, both aimed at expanding the fiscal space for pro-poor spending.
The World Bank recommends several policy options to reduce inflation, protect the poor and vulnerable, and support economic recovery. These include increasing the transparency and predictability of exchange rate management policies, clearly defined monetary-policy priorities and objectives with price stability as the primary goal, full and effective reopening of land borders for trade and strengthening regional cooperation to combat smuggling, facilitating imports for staple foods and medicines by removing them from the list of foreign exchange (FX) restrictions and replacing import bans with tariffs that align with the ECOWAS Common External Tariff.
Establishing mechanisms to monitor and report the federal government’s stock of Central Bank overdrafts to control the growth of the money supply, full elimination of the petrol subsidy; and design of sequenced reforms to mobilize domestic non-oil revenue in a way that does not affect the economic recovery.
The World Bank has approved an $800 million credit for the National Social Safety Net Program Scale-Up (NASSP-SU) to finance a significant expansion in the coverage of shock-responsive safety net support for poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the existing National Social Safety Nets Program of the government and strengthen the national safety net delivery system.
This will enable the Government of Nigeria to cushion the impact of these shocks on the population by financing the provision of targeted time-limited cash transfers to 8.2 million poor and vulnerable beneficiaries and their families, identified by the National Social Registry (NSR) in rural areas and the Rapid Response Registry (RRR) in urban areas.
Injustice is Real is an organization that advocates against cases of injustice involving victims in Nigeria and Nigerians in various countries all over the world.
The organization's mission aligns with many of these policy recommendations, as Injustice is Real seeks to promote social justice and protect vulnerable populations. Injustice is Real is watching closely to see how these policies are implemented in practice.
Nigeria Economic Update: Resilience through Reforms
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